Michael opened the door to his dad’s shop. It was well maintained with a clean presentation for all his wears. The shelves on one side had neatly organized stones of different kinds. The shelves on the other side were adorned with potions that could meet any need from this town or the surroundings. Their efficacies were top class as attested to by the constant traffic this store generated. While the town’s economy mainly relied on its merchant protection and hunting businesses, this alchemy shop was responsible for attracting the clientele for those businesses in the first place.
He walked up to a wall beside the counter and placed his hand on it. Dark Golden aether shined out from his hand’s perimeter, resulting in the wall breaking down and reconfiguring into an ornate door.
The first line of defense; there was no way into the backroom without either breaking the walls or transmuting them into a door, and the built-in barrier would only allow the latter. It was convenient that the wards helped the process along, though that was only until he was good enough to do it easily without help. The former would result in self-destruction.
He walked into the back and recreated the wall. Like the outside, the inside was well organized. Alchemy in all its forms was very dangerous. A messy alchemist quickly turned into a dead alchemist. That’s because controlling reactions was very important. If someone didn’t clean up their surroundings and the wrong compounds mixed… it could be VERY bad.
He pulled up to a large stone table in the back. It was a marble-like white and was made of Stacia Stone, a naturally inert stone known not to react to anything. It was the perfect material to build alchemic workstations with.
Above it was a checklist of fifty metals his dad had tasked him with mastering. He’d crossed out twenty by now, but the other thirty alluded him. Their structures were too complex and, while he could make them, it was too hard to do it accurately or even fast enough to meet the minimum acceptable transmutation time. Gold was easy enough for example, but electrum had aetheric properties that were hard to stabilize; this was the metal he was currently working on.
He picked up a lump of gold in one hand and a lump of electrum in the other, and focused.
The structures mapped in his mind. He needed to understand both and the differences between them if he was to transmute one to another. Sure, he could break it down to its fundamental particles and rebuild it from scratch, but that was far too time intensive and wasteful. The variant of Electrum he was working toward was mainly founded in gold, so using it as the base was an easier process.
Fortunately, alchemists didn’t have to memorize and manually chart the structure out every time, only the first. The more experienced they got with transmuting it, the more they could rely on ‘feeling’ it out. His dad had said something about there being some subconscious template that’s made; he just didn’t remember the details. It didn’t seem all that important.
In any case, without wasting too much time, he started on building the models. His brows furrowed immediately though. It was easier than he remembered, much easier. The models built faster and retaining what he’d already built was far easier. It reminded him of practice this morning. Deconstruction had felt much easier.
Whereas yesterday, it’d taken an hour to transform one to another, the full transformation of the lump of gold in his hand only took five minutes.
“What the….” He paused, looking strangely at the golden block emitting a faint aetheric aura. “It’s so easy…” Not only was the block in one hand equal to the lump in the other, but the new block also even had a stronger aura.
His eyes darted to another lump, which he practically leaped up to seize. Immediately, he began again.
4.5 minutes.
Again – 4 minutes.
Again – 3.75 minutes.
Again – 3.5 minutes.
By the time two hours were up, a pile of electrum lay messily at his feet with the reagent bins of silver, gold, platinum, and others he’d prepared were empty.
“30 seconds…” He muttered with excited, somewhat crazed eyes. “It was so easy… easier than normal.”
His eyes darted to the next metal on the list, eager to test if this new talent helped there too, but before he could grab it from the basket, a rough hand clasped his shoulder, snapping him out of his trance.
“I believe that’s enough.” The man’s mellow, bass voice alerted him to his identity.
“Oh, Dad… when did you get back?” he asked as he turned to face the man.
The man was well dressed as usual. He wore a nice silk vest, belt, slacks, and premium close-toed dress shoes. The man was dressed for business as would be expected of someone that regularly served premium clientele.
“About an hour and a half ago.” Michael’s eyes shot open, now getting an idea of how long he’d inadvertently been at it. “And good thing too; doesn’t look like you serviced the shop like you were supposed to.”
Michael scratched his head embarrassedly. “Yeah… sorry about that. I-“
“It’s fine.” He interrupted with an understanding gaze. “Looks like you made a bit of a breakthrough. Congratulation.”
“Hehe~ thank you. I… is this what it’s like to be you? I felt so-”
“Skilled? Powerful?” His dad guessed, eliciting a nod. “Well, I understand the feeling, really, I do.”
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He reached out his hand to regard it with nostalgic eyes with a smile that didn’t quite reach them. “The feeling of excitement as you realize just how powerful you’re becoming… the ability to reshape the land to your whim?” His eyes returned to his son’s. “Yes… I understand, which makes me very qualified to give you this warning. Be wary of where your talents take you. Overconfidence is the gateway to many possibilities, all of them disastrous.”
Michael stood there, confused. What was the man talking about. He was just talking about his achievement and his new skills. Why the dramatic monologue.
“Sure dad; I got it.” He didn’t, but he had an appointment with his bro this evening. He didn’t want to waste the next half hour listening to a lecture he didn’t understand. “Oh, I almost forgot. Mom wanted me to tell you something.”
“Oh? What’d she say?” He asked with interest.
“She said something about some ibis being spotted in the south. She’s got a hunt scheduled that can’t be postponed.”
“Has it now…?” His voice got a level lower as… something he didn’t recognize flashed through his eyes for a brief moment before vanishing. In its place was his normal amicable gaze. “Got it. I’ll talk to her about it tonight. Thanks for letting me know.”
“What does it mean? Sounds like you know.”
“Her folks back home are being a pain.” He answered succinctly. “There’s nothing to worry about. Just leave it to us.”
“Her folks back home? Who’re they? You two never talk about your lives before this.”
“Because it’s unimportant. It’s best to focus on the present. Let us handle everything else. In the meantime, I have another gathering mission for you. This time, I’ve even managed to convince you mom to let you bring some friends.”
He brightened up. “Really? Can I bring Hector? What about Lola?”
“One of them. You can bring one… but you have to bring Tula too.”
Michael’s eyes bugged out. “Excuse me!? Isn’t that just asking for the mission to fail? We can’t go into the forest of silence with her!
Maybe that came out more petulant than he’d intended, but to his defense, Tula was possibly the worst mission partner he could be stuck with.
“Yes, but that’s why she’s going with you. Her folks want her to learn what it means to live in this world outside of your mom’s aegis. I can’t send the older kids either. All the responsible ones I’d trust with something like this are busy on longer term contracts at the moment; they’re out of town.”
“Urgh… you’re just asking for something to go wrong. There’s no way…”
“You’ll be fine.” He clasped his hand on Michael’s shoulder. “This’ll be your graduation test from the basic course. If you succeed, you and whatever friend you bring along will be promoted to the aether class. You’ll have earned it.”
“…” Michael stood silent for a moment, contemplating the decision.
From a personal perspective, he had no issues. It would also be an opportunity to see where he was in combat now with his recent changes. The problem lay in Tula…
“You know I can’t guarantee her safety with her carelessness. Are her folks OK with this.”
“They are.” He nodded. “According to her mother, ‘better dead to a tiger than suffer excruciatingly at the dirty hands of a ruffian. Teresia's menace in her own right, but unlike her daughter, she’s painfully aware of the realities of the world.”
“But didn’t Tula say…”
“Something about it’s the husband’s job to fight? Heard little Joanna ranting about it on her way here. Hmph~, a firecracker that one.”
“That, yes.” Michael acknowledged.
“Well, the little lady took it way out of contest. I know Teresia really well, and there’s no way she meant it in the way her little girl took it. In fact, Teresia's the one who asked me to include the girl. The lass made a bee line to me in big strides and demanded that it happens. That’s just how disturbing the whole ordeal was to her; the girl’s own mother demanded a course correction.”
“Sigh~” He resigned himself. “Fine… you make a good point. We’ll make sure to keep her safe. When are we going?”
“Couple of days. You’re going to the seven seasons cave. I need something from there.”
‘That’s so far away…’ he thought, disappointed that it wasn’t close to the battle sight. It was practically on the opposite side of the outer edge.
‘If only I could visit that place once again… maybe seeing it could give me insight into that dream. If the damage was there…’ he thought, resisting the urge to sigh in frustration.
For the next few minutes, his dad proceeded to explain the situation to him.
He liked to tell himself that he paid attention through the whole explanation, but his mind was elsewhere. Disappointed, he couldn’t muster the interest; it became just another mission. At this point, even if Hector had convinced him to do it, a growing part of him was excited to go into town and let loose a little. Call it a celebration for his many achievements today or a venting session for his frustrations; either way, he welcomed it.
--- The Djinn of Atlantia ---
Deep within the forest at the site of the titanic battle that’d ripped apart the ecosystem, beasts of all kinds returned to find a bounty. The dust had settled from the climactic battle. While the land was still scarred from the clash, leaving all who’d lived nearby without homes, they were granted a great boon, one that they couldn’t have considered in their wildest dreams. The air was charged with a bounty of ambient aether from the combatants.
Many were content to bask in it, letting their bodies absorb it naturally. They didn’t have much of a choice; it naturally diffused into their skin. The outer layers of the forest were bereft of aether-rich beings; those lived in the inner layer. Those present had thinner concentrations of aether within their bodies, creating the ideal conditions for the dense aether to diffuse into. It wasn’t just regular aether either; it had special qualities inherent from their unique sources.
It was painful at first, practically excruciating. As they got used to it though, it got easier. Not only that, but their bodies changed, evolved to compensate for the miraculous aether that now filled their bodies. It wasn’t overly drastic, but it was noticeable. Depending on their compatibility, the beasts began acquiring new traits.
Some would say that evolution doesn’t happen that fast, that it spans multiple generations. They wouldn’t be wrong… normally. Aether, especially when derived from potent, powerful sources, could transform fishes into dragons. It took time and consistent consumption of the aether source to happen, but it happened. Of course, when creatures came into contact with special aether, especially when its derived from the great spirits (djinn), this evolution process becomes relatively immediate. Time has no meaning to the djinn; the local wildlife is experiencing that first hand.
In one particular corner, a ten-foot lizard-like creature came across something that dwarfed anything the others could fathom, a mutilated corpse floating in a crater filled with a sanguine mixture of its own blood and water. The creature salivated at the feast before it.
Its primitive wisdom warned it against going for it. The crater was deep and there was no easy way up. It wouldn’t have long before other carnivores mustered the courage to approach and, with the heavy stench of blood, this place was like a beacon that would doom it. It wasn’t particularly strong and its venom was very weak; it would become prey. This was compounded by the fact that, even if it ate the whole thing in time, it didn’t know how it could get back up before others arrived.
These thoughts raced through its head, but… it was so hungry and the feast before it compelled its surrender. It lingered at the edge, hesitant to make a decision. It didn’t want to give up the bounty. Even beasts like it could recognize a once in a lifetime opportunity when they saw it, even if they couldn’t fathom the true consequences.
Eventually though, the decision didn’t matter; fate decided. The rubble on the ledge crumbled beneath the creature’s weight, dropping it into the pool.
And so it gorged…